CFS
by Hudine
Summary: Hermione takes ill, and Severus has to look after her, as he is testing some potions that could help her. They start off hating each other but graduly they fall for each other. *Chapter 1 the flue* now up -- based a lot on my own experaince with CFS
1. Chapter 1 - The Flu

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. The Harry Potter world and everything in it belongs to JK Rowling. I write this for the enjoyment with others and to spread awareness of the affects of CFS and depression. No money was made out of this, and no copyright infringement was intended. 

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**_Chapter 1 - The Flu _**

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It was winter at Hogwarts, and Hermione Granger was not feeling well at all that day. It all started when she got up that morning and nearly fell back in bed again, feeling weak and nauseated. She eventually dragged herself out of bed, feeling all her muscles protest at having to move. She had been feeling fine last night so it was a bit of a shock waking up to feel so ill. She looked in the mirror; she was pale, and her skin felt clammy. After getting dressed she walked down to the common room to meet Harry and Ron. 

"Mione, are you alright?" Harry asked. 

"I'm fine, Harry," Hermione lied. 

"You sure? You look like death," Ron added. 

"Thanks for the flattery, Ron. I'm fine." 

"Sure you wouldn't go to the hospital wing?" 

"I'll be fine. I just need to have some breakfast, and besides we only have Potions this morning for one period, then we have nothing until after lunch." 

"You don't look like you should be going to class, Mione," Ron told her, sounding concerned. 

"I told you guys, I'm fine," Hermione, replied angrily. 

"Ok, but if you are sick, make sure it's over Snape," Harry joked. 

**** 

After breakfast Hermione somehow managed to get down to the dungeons. Her sore and tired body still protested having to move. She walked into the scary and gloomy-looking classroom that was filled with various odd-looking pickled potions ingredients, and there was little light coming through the small windows that were positioned high up the walls, almost touching the ceiling. The classroom was almost full, and chattering noisily, as she was one of the last people to enter the room. Quickly and quietly she went and sat down in her normal place beside Neville and Harry. She didn't even hear either Harry or Neville asking if she was okay, she was too busy thinking about the churning she was feeling in her stomach. She was also beginning to wonder if she had caught the flu. 

*Not much can be done for the flu even in the wizarding world,* she thought to herself, shivering, feeling colder than usual. *Must be running a temperature.* 

She was also regretting having eaten anything this morning as she was fighting the urge to be sick. She was so busy clenching her teeth, trying not to throw up, that she didn't notice when Professor Snape entered the room. She looked up suddenly, and all the other students around her already had their cauldrons out and were preparing ingredients. 

"Miss Granger, would you care to explain why you have not been paying attention in my class?" Professor Severus Snape was now standing behind his usually very alert student. He had never seen her this distracted, not for the past six years she had been under his tutelage. 

Hermione felt her stomach give a lurch, and was afraid to open her mouth. She had to get out now. She stood up, turning around sharply and ran into Snape. She was so desperate to get out of the classroom, she had forgotten he was there. 

"20 points from Gryffindor for not paying attention in class, and for not looking where you are going." 

She opened her mouth to protest, but regretted it instantly. She clapped her hands back over her mouth but it was too late. She couldn't help throwing up now, and did so all over herself and Professor Snape. *Now I'm in for it. * 

The other students in the room were torn between disgust and laughter. Harry and Ron looked shocked and concerned at the same time, after all Harry was only joking when he told her to be sick over Snape. 

"Well, Miss Granger. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Snape asked, his voice dangerously low and silky. His face was expressionless. "If you were feeling ill why did you not go to the hospital wing?" 

Hermione tried to say she was sorry but nothing came out. A heavy feeling came over her and she passed out. 

**** 

Hermione awoke to feel a pillow under her head and warm sunlight on her face. She opened her eyes, and after a few seconds recognized the whitewashed walls of the Hospital Wing. 

She sat up in bed and looked around, wondering how she got there. Then with a flash of embarrassment she remembered the events of her last Potions lesson. 

Madame Pomfrey the medi-witch came up to where Hermione was sitting, holding a container with what looked like Pepperup Potion. "Here you go, drink this up dear. I'm afraid there's not much I can do for you, since you have the flu. Just rest for the next week and you'll be as good as new." 

Hermione drank down the potion, Madame Pompfrey handed to her. She felt a lot warmer now, and noticed that her hair was smoking. It alarmed her at first, but then she calmed as she remembered that it was just a side effect of the potion. *Oh God, Potions!* "H-How did I get here?" 

"Professor Snape brought you in, and I sent him away after he told me what happened. He was rather smelly. So it would be best to avoid him a few days." 

*A few months more like, pity I have to sit in a class with him --* "But I have him tomorrow!" 

"No you don't! You are to go back to your dorm and stay in bed. If I hear of you getting out to go to class or the library or anything of the sort, you are going to be staying here till you get better." 

"Yes, Ma'm." 

"Now of to bed with you for at least 4 days. Then I want you to report back to me." 

So after being dismissed, Hermione politely excused herself and dragged herself back to her dormitory. 

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A/N: Yes, unlikely she would be sent away, just bear with me; it's part of the plot line, because what is going to happen next would be less likely to happen if she stayed. 

Big thank you to my wonderful beta, who I think this story would be complete crap without. 


	2. Chapter 2 - Actions and There Consequenc...

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. The Harry Potter world and everything in it belongs to JK Rowling. I write this for the enjoyment with others and to spread awareness of the affects of CFS and depression. No money was made out of this, and no copyright infringement was intended.

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**_Chapter 2 - Actions and Their Consequences_**

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Hermione had a room to herself this year, as she was Head Girl. It looked a lot like the rest of the girls' dormitories, but was furnished for just one person. She had her own deep oak wardrobe in the corner, and a matching dresser with a mirror on top hugged the wall beside the door. Muggle pictures of her parents sat on the mantle over the fireplace in the opposite wall. A large window to the left looked out on the misty Quidditch fields, and opposite that an oaken four-poster bed rested near the corner, dressed in red and white linens and draped with gold-trimmed red curtains. A small table sat on one side of the bed, and a chair on the other.

Hermione was in her bed reading her Charms textbook, when there was a knock on the door. "Come in." As soon as she said it, the door opened to admit Harry and Ron. 

"Hi, Hermione. We came to see how you are doing?" Harry said, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"And I brought you these," Ron added, giving her one of the packets of Chocolate Frogs from the last Hogsmade trip, then sat on the chair next to the bed.

"Hello guys. Thanks for the sweets, Ron-- I'll be ok. Just the flu." 

"Well, we hope you got the sense to stay out of class tomorrow. Especially since we have Potions last thing," Harry warned.

"Yea, Professor Snape was really pissed about that."

"Don't worry guys, I've been ordered to stay in my room and not even go to the library, or Madame Pomfrey's going to lock me in the hospital wing. I can't believe all the work I'm going to miss... I'll never catch up."

"Poor Mione. How're you going to survive without going to class or getting any work?" Ron teased. 

Hermione threw a pillow at Ron, hitting him square on the face. "Not funny, Ron."

"Well, newsflash Hermione, you're already caught up. You have every textbook and practically every book in the library memorized. You're not going to get that far behind in a few days," he insisted.

"Besides, we'll let you know what homework you missed," Harry offered before she could throw another pillow at Ron.

"Thank you, Harry."

"Yea, but take a break," Ron told her, picking up her Charms textbook.

"Ron! Give that back!" Hermione shouted at Ron and tried to snatch it from him. Unfortunately Ron had grown up a lot since their first year-- he was now 6 feet tall, and Hermione nearly fit under his chin. "Ron!"

"Ron, give her the book back," Harry sighed. 

"What? She should be resting. Not going to do much of that reading through this." 

Hermione jumped up, managed to grab the book off Ron and made a run for it out the door.

"Now look what you've done, Ron!"

"How was I to know she wasn't going to take a joke?"

"She's Hermione, and that was a book. That's how. Besides, she has the flu-- she's probably not thinking rationally."

"Should we go after her?"

"Yes, come on." The two boys ran out to look for her, but it was too late. She was nowhere in sight. "Ok Ron, you check the library. I'll look in Moaning Myrtle's toilets. If we don't find her there, keep looking, and meet back in the common room after a few hours."

Ron nodded and headed toward the library.

****

Hermione ran out of the portrait hole crying. She had no real reason to do so, but couldn't seem to help herself. Deciding that she needed some air, she headed out of the castle into the snow and sat beside the lake, shivering. She hadn't thought or had time to dress in anything warmer than a nightshirt and a pair of pajama bottoms.

After a while she noticed it was getting dark. Not sure how long she had been there, Hermione tried to get up, but the coldness of the air around her enveloped her and she couldn't move. She looked around for help, and not seeing any, reached for her wand, but then realized she had left it behind her.

Hermione tried to call out for help, but for the second time that day nothing would come out. She felt that heavy feeling come over her and fell forward into the snow, and gradually lost consciousness. 

****

Professor Severus Snape was fuming after the incident with Miss Granger that morning in class. She had passed out before he had time to take points off for coming to class sick, and after all, most of the fun in taking points off was to see the reaction of the reciprocate. He was not only mad about the fact that she had been sick over him, but he had also had to take her all the way to the hospital wing, covered in vomit, and then Madame Pomfery had the nerve to point out that he smelled rather more vile than usual. So to top things off, he had had to go back to his chambers and clean up, even being forced to shampoo his hair, before returning to his class. So consequently he had been in a foul mood all day, taking off points for as much as sneezing in class and barely enduring compliments about his hair from other members of the faculty.

Feeling too mad to continue marking papers and not tired enough to go to sleep (despite the lateness of the hour), he decided to get some fresh air. He headed out of his office and then out of the castle.

****

Harry and Ron were now officially worried about Hermione. It was past curfew and Hermione had not come back yet, nor had they found her. Harry and Ron had met back in the common room a while ago and decided to wait to see if she would show up. It had been anything from five minutes to three hours-- they couldn't tell-- and she still hadn't shown up.

"Harry, I think it's time we went and looked for her again. What if Filch-- or worse-- Snape catches her?"

Harry looked at his watch and saw it was eleven p.m. "I have to agree, Ron. Wait here-- I'll go get the map and the invisibility cloak." Harry ran up the stairs and returned with the items. Then the two boys left through the portrait hole to go find Hermione.

****

Severus was walking by the lake when he tripped over something heavy he hadn't seen in the dark. Picking himself up, and brushing the snow off his face and robes, he turned around to see what it was he had tripped on. A look of horror briefly crossed his face when he realized he had stumbled over the body of a young woman. Getting out his wand and muttering a terse _lumos_ he saw it was Hermione Granger. He quickly checked for a pulse and let out a long sigh of relief when he found one. Granted it was very weak, but it was a pulse.

She was very pale, and obviously suffering from the effects of hypothermia. Snape took off his cloak and wrapped it around the girl, then picked her up carefully (he had a thing against _Mobiliarcorpus_ after the second Shrieking Shack incident) and carried her off to the hospital wing for a second time that day.

****

Harry and Ron were watching two dots on the map. One that was labelled Hermione Granger, and the other-- Severus Snape. They were beside each other and heading towards what looked like the common room. 

"Looks like Snape caught her."

"Well Harry, if Snape has her and they're headed this direction, he's got to be taking her back and I don't want him to catch us as well."

"Yeah, you're right. Better head back. She should be back soon."

The two boys made their way back to the common room and deactivated the map once they got inside. But if they had kept the map active they would have seen Snape and Hermione taking a sharp turn before they got there, making their way to the hospital wing.

****

Snape ran into the hospital wing as fast as he could, where a worried-looking Poppy Pomfery met him. "What happened, Severus?" she demanded, gesturing for him to put the bundled girl in his arms onto the nearest bed.

"I don't know. I found her outside in the cold, unconscious. I have no idea how long she was there or why." Severus tried to keep the worry out of his voice as best as he could. "She was only wearing a nightshirt and pajama bottoms when I found her."

"Silly girl. She shouldn't have been out there and definitely should have dressed warmer, sick or not," Poppy scolded to no one in particular. She got out her wand and examined Hermione's vital readings. "Well, looks like she's suffering from hypothermia, and she's taken pneumonia." Poppy said. She cast a Warming charms over Hermione and a few other spells to stabilize her condition, then covered her in several blankets, leaving her to wake up naturally. "She will be ok, Severus. Go get some rest, it's been a long day for you."

Not wanting to argue, he left, deciding to come back and check on her in the morning.

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A/N: See wouldn't have happened if she stayed in the hospital wing. Big thank you to those of you that reviewed :) I live for feedback. So go ahead, and press that button, it don't bite :) 

Big thank you again to my wonderful beta I only know as A, who very kindly takes the time to beta my story for me. No easy task too, so thank you ten thousand times over, because I know you are so busy at the moment with school.

Now you read it, you can make my day a lot brighter by pressing this button

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